Line 52: | Line 52: | ||
After [[Ivan Pavlov]] observed that food made his dogs salivate, he started a series of experiments that became a real classic in the field.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Coon |first1=Dennis |last2=Mitterer |first2=John O. |tittle=Psychology: A Journey |page=225 |year=2007 |publisher=Cengage Learning |isbn=0495095538 }}</ref> Pavlov observed the phenomena of [[classical conditioning]] and developed the [[stimulus-response theory]] to explain it. In ''Dianetics'', Hubbard denies there is any "conditioning" but uses instead the mechanism of stimulus-response to explain the workings of the Reactive Mind, the ever conscious unconscious, according to Hubbard. As for the unconscious, Freud used the term without qualification.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bouveresse first1=Jacques |last2=Cosman |first2=Carol |last3=Descombes |first3=Vincent |title=Wittgenstein Reads Freud: the Myth of the Unconscious |page=22 |year=1996 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=0691029047 |quote=Freud has often been credited, if not with an actual "discovery" of the unconscious (which he had the wisdom not to claim entirely for himself), at least with the introduction of a revolutionary idea of its nature and function. }}</ref> Hubbard, on the other hand, declares the Reactive Mind or unconscious as the only mind that is always conscious. Apparently, Hubbard is standing on the shoulders of two giants, Pavlov and Freud, with the intention of dealing with mental illness. However, Hubbard declares that ''Dianetics: the modern science of mental health'' is not really for the insane but for normal people and that the most it could do is take a neurotic and make the person normal again. There is another giant lurking in the background of Hubbard's work. The name is [[Charcot]] and the specialty is hipnotism. However, Hubbard declares that Dianetics is not hypnotism and that no hypnotism is used in Dianetics therapy.<ref>{{cite book |last=Ellenberger |first=Henri L. |title=The discovery of the unconscious |page=751 |year=1970 |publisher=Basic Books |isbn=0465016730 |quote=This probably stimulated Charcot to take up his own experiments, and as he progressed with his investigations, other men were encouraged to use hypnosis. }}</ref> |
After [[Ivan Pavlov]] observed that food made his dogs salivate, he started a series of experiments that became a real classic in the field.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Coon |first1=Dennis |last2=Mitterer |first2=John O. |tittle=Psychology: A Journey |page=225 |year=2007 |publisher=Cengage Learning |isbn=0495095538 }}</ref> Pavlov observed the phenomena of [[classical conditioning]] and developed the [[stimulus-response theory]] to explain it. In ''Dianetics'', Hubbard denies there is any "conditioning" but uses instead the mechanism of stimulus-response to explain the workings of the Reactive Mind, the ever conscious unconscious, according to Hubbard. As for the unconscious, Freud used the term without qualification.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bouveresse first1=Jacques |last2=Cosman |first2=Carol |last3=Descombes |first3=Vincent |title=Wittgenstein Reads Freud: the Myth of the Unconscious |page=22 |year=1996 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=0691029047 |quote=Freud has often been credited, if not with an actual "discovery" of the unconscious (which he had the wisdom not to claim entirely for himself), at least with the introduction of a revolutionary idea of its nature and function. }}</ref> Hubbard, on the other hand, declares the Reactive Mind or unconscious as the only mind that is always conscious. Apparently, Hubbard is standing on the shoulders of two giants, Pavlov and Freud, with the intention of dealing with mental illness. However, Hubbard declares that ''Dianetics: the modern science of mental health'' is not really for the insane but for normal people and that the most it could do is take a neurotic and make the person normal again. There is another giant lurking in the background of Hubbard's work. The name is [[Charcot]] and the specialty is hipnotism. However, Hubbard declares that Dianetics is not hypnotism and that no hypnotism is used in Dianetics therapy.<ref>{{cite book |last=Ellenberger |first=Henri L. |title=The discovery of the unconscious |page=751 |year=1970 |publisher=Basic Books |isbn=0465016730 |quote=This probably stimulated Charcot to take up his own experiments, and as he progressed with his investigations, other men were encouraged to use hypnosis. }}</ref> |
||
In Dianetics, Hubbard mentions the post-hypnotic suggestion. This phenomenon of the post-hypnotic suggestion was described as far back as 1787.<ref>{{cite book |author=Henri F. Ellenberger |title=The discovery of the unconscious |page=113 }}</ref> |
In Dianetics, Hubbard mentions the post-hypnotic suggestion. This phenomenon of the post-hypnotic suggestion was described as far back as 1787.<ref>{{cite book |author=Henri F. Ellenberger |title=The discovery of the unconscious |page=113 }}</ref> The development of Dynamic Psychiatry dates back to the encounter between the physician [[Mesmer]] and the exorcist [[Gassner]]. According to followers of the school of Dynamic Psychiatry, the advent of hypnotism signaled the discovery of the unconscious.<ref>{{cite book |author=Henri F. Ellenberger |title=The discovery of the unconscious |page=53 }}</ref> Hubbard considers hypnotism a valuable research tool and agrees that hypnotism helped in discovering the ever conscious unconscious. However, Hubbard believes that what hypnotism deals with is only a semblance of what the unconscious is really all about, the recording of pain during moments of unconsciousness. According to Hubbard, it was the inability of the hypnotized subject to enter periods of unconsciousness that led to the discovery of the Reactive Mind. |
||
==Initial publication== |
==Initial publication== |
Revision as of 19:10, 5 April 2010
1st edition cover | |
Author | Lafayette Ronald Hubbard |
---|---|
Language | English |
Genre | Self-help |
Publisher | Hermitage House |
Publication date | 9 May, 1950 |
Publication place | United States of America |
Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health (often abbreviated as DMSMH) is a book by L. Ron Hubbard which sets out self-improvement techniques he had developed, called Dianetics. The book is also one of the canonical texts of Scientology.[1] It is coloquially referred to as Book One.[2]
In the best-selling self-help book[3][4], first published in 1950, Hubbard wrote that he had isolated the "dynamic principle of existence", which he states as "Survive", and presents his description of the human mind. He identifies the source of "human aberration" as the "reactive mind", a normally hidden but always conscious area of the mind, and certain cellular recordings ("engrams") stored in it. Dianetics describes counseling (or "auditing") techniques which Hubbard claimed would get rid of engrams and bring major therapeutic benefits.
The book earned scathing reviews from critics, who charge that it presents these claims in superficially scientific language but without evidence. Despite this, the book proved a major commercial success on its publication, although B. Dalton's officials state that these figures were inflated by Hubbard's Scientologist-controlled publisher, who had groups of Scientologists each purchase dozens or even hundreds of copies of Hubbard's books, and who sold these back to the same retailers.[5]
Background
Before the publication of Dianetics, L. Ron Hubbard was a prolific writer for pulp magazines. He had attended George Washington University Engineering School, but did not graduate.[6]
According to Hubbard, the ideas in Dianetics were developed over twelve years of research, although many of his friends at the time said this was entirely mythical.[6] The first public outline of those ideas was an article in the pulp magazine Astounding Science Fiction, appearing a few weeks before the publication of the book.[6] This advance publicity generated so much interest that in April 1950, Hubbard and Campbell with other interested parties established the Hubbard Dianetic Research Foundation.[7] Hubbard claimed to have written Dianetics in three weeks.[8] His writing speed was assisted by a special typewriter which accepted paper on a continuous roll and which had dedicated keys for common words like "the" or "but".[6] An early version of the book was rejected by numerous publishers and was later sold under the name Original Thesis.[6]
Content
In the section "How to Read this Book," L. Ron Hubbard suggests to read right on through. An "Important Note" appeared in later editions of the book advising the reader to understand every word read. In the book, Hubbard uses two different and contradictory definitions for the word "engram." In Book One, the Goal of Man, chapter 5, summary, Hubbard states the Fundamental Axioms of Dianetics among which is "... The engram is a moment of 'unconsciousness' containing physical pain or painful emotion and all perceptions and is not available to the analytical mind as experience." Later in the text, Hubbard writes of the engram in a footnote on page 74 of Book Two, chapter two, of the 2007 edition of Dianetics: the modern science of mental health. The footnote reads: "... The word engram in Dianetics is used in its severely accurate sense as a 'definite and permanent trace left by a stimulus on the protoplasm of a tissue'. It is considered as a unit group of stimuli impinged solely on the cellular being."[9] In other words, Hubbard takes a definition previously debunked by Biology and calls it a Dianetics definition.[10] Karl Lashley spent decades looking for the engram and could not find any.[11] According to Alexander Rosenberg, none really believes there are engrams.[12]
According to Hubbard, the book Dianetics: the modern science of mental health follows the original line of research:
A) The discovery of the dynamic principle of existence and its meaning.
B) The discovery of the source of aberration: the reactive mind.
C) Therapy and its application.
Hubbard leaves out all the basic philosophy.[13]
Dianetics purports to reveal revolutionary discoveries about the source of psychosomatic illness, neuroses and other mental ailments, as well as an exact, infallible way of permanently curing them.[6] Hubbard divides the human mind into an "analytic mind" which supposedly functions perfectly, and a "reactive mind" which is incapable of thinking or making distinctions. When the analytic mind is unconscious, the reactive mind physically records memories called "engrams". Misinterpretation of these engrams by the reactive mind causes damage later in life. By a process called "Dianetic auditing", the book promises, people can achieve a superhuman state called "Clear" with superior IQ, morally pure intentions and greatly improved mental and physical health. In August 1950, Hubbard predicted that Clears would become the world's new aristocracy, although he admitted that he had not achieved the state himself.[6] In welcoming expectancy, the Theosophist Magazine compares the Dianetic engram to the Theosophic permanent atom as these atoms receive and retransmit impressions received life after life so that as the ego descends to a new birth, the new incarnation receives the stored impressions of engrams from previous lives.[14]
The dynamic principle of existence
Survive! Hubbard discovered not that all things survive but rather that they are motivated only by surival.
The single source of aberration
The Reactive Mind Hubbard discovered that the Reactive Mind works solely on a stimulus-response basis and that it stores not memores but engrams. After Ivan Pavlov observed that food made his dogs salivate, he started a series of experiments that became a real classic in the field.[15] Pavlov observed the phenomena of classical conditioning and developed the stimulus-response theory to explain it. In Dianetics, Hubbard denies there is any "conditioning" but uses instead the mechanism of stimulus-response to explain the workings of the Reactive Mind, the ever conscious unconscious, according to Hubbard. As for the unconscious, Freud used the term without qualification.[16] Hubbard, on the other hand, declares the Reactive Mind or unconscious as the only mind that is always conscious. Apparently, Hubbard is standing on the shoulders of two giants, Pavlov and Freud, with the intention of dealing with mental illness. However, Hubbard declares that Dianetics: the modern science of mental health is not really for the insane but for normal people and that the most it could do is take a neurotic and make the person normal again. There is another giant lurking in the background of Hubbard's work. The name is Charcot and the specialty is hipnotism. However, Hubbard declares that Dianetics is not hypnotism and that no hypnotism is used in Dianetics therapy.[17]
In Dianetics, Hubbard mentions the post-hypnotic suggestion. This phenomenon of the post-hypnotic suggestion was described as far back as 1787.[18] The development of Dynamic Psychiatry dates back to the encounter between the physician Mesmer and the exorcist Gassner. According to followers of the school of Dynamic Psychiatry, the advent of hypnotism signaled the discovery of the unconscious.[19] Hubbard considers hypnotism a valuable research tool and agrees that hypnotism helped in discovering the ever conscious unconscious. However, Hubbard believes that what hypnotism deals with is only a semblance of what the unconscious is really all about, the recording of pain during moments of unconsciousness. According to Hubbard, it was the inability of the hypnotized subject to enter periods of unconsciousness that led to the discovery of the Reactive Mind.
Initial publication
Dianetics was first published May 9, 1950 by Hermitage House, at One Madison Ave.,[20] a New York-based publisher of psychiatric textbooks whose president, Arthur Ceppos, was also on the Board of Directors of the Hubbard Dianetic Research Foundation.[21] The book became a nationwide bestseller, selling over 150,000 copies within a year. Due to the interest generated, a multitude of "Dianetics clubs" and similar organizations were formed for the purpose of applying Dianetics techniques. Hubbard himself established a nationwide network of Dianetic Research Foundations, offering Dianetics training and processing for a fee. Dianetics blossomed into a national fad and was then denounced by psychologists.[22]
The original edition of the book included an introduction by J.A. Winter, M.D., an appendix on "The Philosophic Method" by Will Durant (reprinted from The Story of Philosophy, 1926), another on "The Scientific Method" by John W. Campbell and a third appendix by Donald H. Rogers. These contributions are omitted from editions of Dianetics published since about the start of the 1980s. Since 2007, new editions of Dianetics: the modern science of mental health are being published with additional material, a synopsis, which was left out of previous editions either on purpose or unknowingly by previous publishers. The book is also being published in an entirely new format that includes easy to read type and an editor's glossary of words, terms and phrases.[23]
Reception
Although it received an initial positive public response,[6] Dianetics was strongly criticized by scientists and medical professionals for its scientific deficiencies. The American Psychological Association passed a resolution in 1950 stating of Dianetics "the fact that these claims are not supported by empirical evidence of the sort required for the establishment of scientific generalizations."[24]
Despite a couple of favourable reviews from medical doctors, Dianetics has had very hostile reviews from many, or almost all, sources.[25] An early review in The New Republic summed up the book as "a bold and immodest mixture of complete nonsense and perfectly reasonable common sense, taken from long-acknowledged findings and disguised and distorted by a crazy, newly invented terminology" and warned of medical risks: "it may prove fatal to have put too much trust in the promises of this dangerous book."[26]
Reviewing the book for Scientific American in 1951, physicist Isidor Isaac Rabi criticised the lack of either evidence or qualification, saying it "probably contains more promises and less evidence per page than has any publication since the invention of printing."[27] An editorial in Clinical Medicine summarised the book as "a rumination of old psychological concepts, (...) misunderstood and misinterpreted and at the same time adorned with the halo of the philosopher's stone and of an universal remedy," which had initiated "a new system of quackery of apparently considerable dimensions."[28] According to Consumer Reports, the book over-extends scientific and cybernetic metaphors, and lacks the needed case reports, experimental replication and statistical data to back up its bold claims.[29] Both Consumer Reports and Clinical Medicine also warned of the danger that the book would inspire unqualified people to harmfully intervene in others' mental problems.
These warnings were echoed by psychoanalyst Erich Fromm, who contrasted the sophistication of Freud's theories with the "oversimplified" and "propagandistic" ideas offered by Dianetics. The latter's extremely mechanistic view of the mind had no need for human values, conscience or any authority other than Hubbard himself.[30] A similar point was made by psychologist Rollo May in the New York Times, arguing that Dianetics unwittingly illustrates the fallacy of trying to understand human nature by invariant mathematical models taken from mechanics.[31]
A review by semantics expert S. I. Hayakawa described Dianetics as an example of fiction-science, meaning that it borrows several linguistic techniques from science fiction to make fanciful claims seem plausible.[32] Science fiction, he explained, relies on vividly conveying imaginary entities such as Martians and rayguns as though they were commonplace. Hubbard was doing this with his fantastic "discoveries", perhaps fooling even himself.
Science writer Martin Gardner criticised the book's "repetitious, immature style" likening it to the grand pseudoscientific pronouncements of Wilhelm Reich. "Nothing in the book remotely resembles a scientific report," he wrote.[6]
More recently, the book has been described by Salon.com as "a fantastically dull, terribly written, crackpot rant," which covers a lack of credible evidence with mere insistence[33] and the The Daily Telegraph called it a "creepy bit of mind-mechanics" which would cause rather than cure depression.[34]
Publication history
It is unclear how many editions there have been, but at least 60 printings are said to have been issued by 1988, almost all having been printed by the Church of Scientology and its related organizations.[35]
Current editions are published by Bridge Publications, a Church-owned imprint. Over twenty million copies have been sold, according to the cover of the latest paperback books. The following statement is included on the copyright page of all editions: "This book is part of the works of L. Ron Hubbard, who developed Dianetics spiritual healing technology and Scientology applied religious philosophy. It is presented to the reader as a record of observations and research into the nature of mind and spirit, and not a statement of claims made by the author..."
According to Bridge Publications, 83 million copies of Dianetics were sold in the forty years after publication.[36] According to Nielsen BookScan, the book has sold 52,000 copies between 2001 and 2005.[37] The book has been very aggressively marketed, often in ways that are unusual for the book industry,[36] for instance appearing as one of the twelve sponsors of the Goodwill Games under a $4 million agreement between Bridge Publications and Turner Broadcasting System.[38] Bridge Publications also sponsors NASCAR racer and Scientologist Kenton Gray, who races as the "Dianetics Racing Team" and whose No. 27 Ford Taurus is decorated with Dianetics logos.[39]
Various sources allege that the book's continued sales have been manipulated by the Church of Scientology and its related organizations ordering followers to buy up new editions to boost sales figures.[36] According to a Los Angeles Times exposé published in 1990, "sales of Hubbard's books apparently got an extra boost from Scientology followers and employees of the publishing firm [Bridge Publications]. Showing up at major book outlets like B. Dalton and Waldenbooks, they purchased armloads of Hubbard's works, according to former employees."[5]
Role in Scientology
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/d/da/LRonHubbard-Dianetics-ISBN1403105464-cover.jpg/220px-LRonHubbard-Dianetics-ISBN1403105464-cover.jpg)
Scientologists regard the publication of Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health as a key historical event for their movement and the world, and refer to the book as "Book One." In Scientology, years are numbered relative to the first publication of the book: 1990, for example, being "40 AD" (After Dianetics).[5] The book is promoted as "a milestone for Man comparable to his discovery of fire and superior to his inventions of the wheel and the arch".[6]
Dianetics is still heavily promoted today by the Church of Scientology and has been advertised widely on television and in print. Indeed, it has been alleged that the Church has asked its members to purchase large quantities of the book with their own money, or with money supplied by the Church, for the sole purpose of keeping the book on the New York Times Best Seller list.[40] Hubbard described the book as a key asset for getting people in Scientology:
- People who had read Book One and wanted Dianetics, when delivered enough Book One auditing, training or co-auditing, then started to reach for Scn [Scientology] services. Given sufficient quantity and quality of Book One, these people naturally started to WANT and reach for Scn services![41]
The Church of Scientology has been explicit about using Dianetics' sponsorship of the Goodwill Games to boost Scientology membership. The Church's internal journal for Scientologists, International Scientology News, has stated that
- In order to create an enormous international impact, Dianetics has become a major sponsor of the upcoming Goodwill Games... All these dissemination actions are being done with the sole purpose of getting more and more people introduced to LRH's TECH so they will go into orgs [Scientology properties] and rapidly move up The Bridge to Total Freedom [advancing through Scientology's levels].[38]
Cover imagery
Dianetics uses the image of an exploding volcano, both on the covers of post-1967 editions, and in advertising. A giant billboard built in Sydney, Australia, measured 33m (100 ft) wide and 10 m (30 ft) high and depicted an erupting volcano with "non-toxic smoke".[42] Hubbard told his marketing staff that this imagery would make the books irresistible to purchasers by reactivating unconscious memories.[43] According to Hubbard, the volcano recalls the incident in which galactic overlord Xenu placed billions of his people around Earth's volcanoes and killed them there by blowing them up with hydrogen bombs.[44][45] A representative of the Church of Scientology has confirmed in court that the Dianetics volcano is indeed linked with the "catastrophe" wrought by Xenu.[46]
Bent Corydon, a former Scientology mission holder, recounted that
- A special "Book Mission" was sent out to promote these books, now empowered and made irresistible by the addition of these supposedly overwhelming symbols or images. Organization staff were assured that if they simply held up one of the books, revealing its cover, that any bookstore owner would immediately order crateloads of them. A customs officer, seeing any of the book covers in one's luggage, would immediately pass one on through.[47]
See also
References
- ^ Rothstein, Mikael (2007). "Scientology, scripture and sacred tradition". In James R. Lewis, Olav Hammer (ed.). The invention of sacred tradition. Cambridge University Press. p. 21. ISBN 9780521864794. OCLC 154706390.
- ^ Lewis, James R. (2009). Scientology. Oxford University Press US. p. 417. ISBN 0195331493.
... Book One, contains all basic principles on Dianetics in its original form.
{{cite book}}
: Check|isbn=
value: checksum (help) - ^ "Scientology Goes NASCAR With Dianetics Race Car". ABC News U.S. abcNEWS.com. June 6, 2006. Retrieved 2009-07-23.
- ^ "A religion for the 21st century: Scientology". The North County Times, Escondido, CA. nctimes.com. Feb 08, 2008. Retrieved 2009-07-23.
{{cite news}}
: Check date values in:|date=
(help) - ^ a b c Sappell, Joel (June 28, 1990). "Costly Strategy Continues to Turn Out Bestsellers". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2008-10-26.
{{cite news}}
: Unknown parameter|coauthors=
ignored (|author=
suggested) (help) - ^ a b c d e f g h i j Gardner, Martin (1957). Fads and Fallacies: in the name of science (Second ed.). Dover Publications. pp. 263–272. ISBN 0-486-20394-8.
- ^ Ashley, Michael (2000). The Time Machine: the story of the science-fiction pulp magazines from the beginning to 1950. Liverpool University Press. p. 227. ISBN 0853238553.
Campbell believed Hubbard was on to something. What have the psychologists been doing for the past fifty years?
- ^ Hubbard, L. Ron (1968). Child Dianetics: Dianetic Processing for Children. Publications Organization Worldwide. p. 178. ISBN 8787347458.
{{cite book}}
: Unknown parameter|coauthors=
ignored (|author=
suggested) (help) - ^ Hubbard, L. Ron (2007). Dianetics: the modern science of mental health. Bridge Publication Inc. pp. 51, 74. ISBN 1403144843.
{{cite book}}
: Check|isbn=
value: checksum (help) - ^ Gutfreund, H.; Toulouse, G. (1994). Biology and Computation: a physicist's choice. World Scientific. p. 269. ISBN 9810214050.
I think that it is safe to say that nobody has ever seen a specific memory trace ('engram') in the brain.
{{cite book}}
: Check|isbn=
value: checksum (help) - ^ Hergenhahn, B. R. (2009). An Introduction to the History of Psychology. Cengage Learning. p. 607. ISBN 0495506218.
Lashley spent decades searching for the engram and in the end expressed his frustration as follows: ...
{{cite book}}
: Check|isbn=
value: checksum (help) - ^ Rosenberg, Alexander (2006). Darwinian Reductionism, or, How to stop worrying and love molecular biology. University of Chicago Press. p. 116. ISBN 0226727295.
{{cite book}}
: Check|isbn=
value: checksum (help) - ^ L. Ron Hubbard (2007). Dianetics. p. 3.
- ^ Bessant, Annie Wood (2003). Theosophist Magazine Collection, 1920-1955. Kessinger Publishing. pp. 390–391. ISBN 0766153530.
There is a most instructive and interesting statement in a new book called Dianetics: the Modern Science of Mental Health by L. Ron Hubbard.
{{cite book}}
: Check|isbn=
value: checksum (help) - ^ Coon, Dennis; Mitterer, John O. (2007). Cengage Learning. p. 225. ISBN 0495095538.
{{cite book}}
: Check|isbn=
value: checksum (help); Missing or empty|title=
(help); Unknown parameter|tittle=
ignored (help) - ^ Bouveresse first1=Jacques; Cosman, Carol; Descombes, Vincent (1996). Wittgenstein Reads Freud: the Myth of the Unconscious. Princeton University Press. p. 22. ISBN 0691029047.
Freud has often been credited, if not with an actual "discovery" of the unconscious (which he had the wisdom not to claim entirely for himself), at least with the introduction of a revolutionary idea of its nature and function.
{{cite book}}
: Check|isbn=
value: checksum (help); Missing pipe in:|last1=
(help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Ellenberger, Henri L. (1970). The discovery of the unconscious. Basic Books. p. 751. ISBN 0465016730.
This probably stimulated Charcot to take up his own experiments, and as he progressed with his investigations, other men were encouraged to use hypnosis.
{{cite book}}
: Check|isbn=
value: checksum (help) - ^ Henri F. Ellenberger. The discovery of the unconscious. p. 113.
- ^ Henri F. Ellenberger. The discovery of the unconscious. p. 53.
- ^ Analog Science Fact, Science Fiction. Vol. 45 (issues 1-6). Condé Nast Publications. 1950. p. 151.
- ^ Atack, Jon (1990). A Piece of Blue Sky. New York, NY: Carol Publishing Group. ISBN 0-8184-0499-X.
- ^ Life Magazine. Time Inc. May 21, 1951. p. 138. ISSN 0024-3019.
- ^ Hubbard, L. Ron (2007). Dianetics: the modern science of mental health. Bridge Publications Inc. pp. i–xi, 539–634. ISBN 1403144843.
{{cite book}}
: Check|isbn=
value: checksum (help) - ^ Freeman, Lucy (September 9, 1950). "Psychologists Act Against Dianetics". New York Times. p. 19.
- ^ Kent, Stephen A. (1999). "The Creation of 'Religious' Scientology". Religious Studies and Theology. 18 (2): 97–126.
- ^ Gumpert, Martin (August 14, 1950). "The Dianetics Craze". The New Republic.
- ^ Rabi, Isidor Isaac (January 1951). "Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health, by L. Ron Hubbard". Scientific American.
- ^ Stearns, Frederick R. (March 1951). "Dianetics". Clinical Medicine.
- ^ "Dianetics Review". Consumer Reports. August 1951.
- ^ Fromm, Erich (September 3, 1950). ""Dianetics" - For Seekers of Prefabricated Happiness" (PDF). The New York Herald Tribune Book Review. p. 7. Retrieved 2008-11-22.
- ^ May, Rollo (July 2, 1950). "How to Backtrack and Get Ahead" (PDF). New York Times Book Review. Retrieved 2009-02-08.
- ^ Hayakawa, S. I. (Summer 1951). "From Science-fiction to Fiction-science". Etc.: A Review of General Semantics. VIII (4). Chicago: The International Society for General Semantics: 280–293.
- ^ Miller, Laura (June 28, 2005). "Stranger than fiction". Salon.com. Retrieved 2008-11-21.
- ^ "50 best cult books". The Telegraph. April 25, 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-25.
Do you often feel unhappy? Depressed? Ill at ease with others? You will if you read this.
- ^ Frontispiece of Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health, 1988 edition (New Era Publications, Copenhagen)
- ^ a b c Harris, Daniel (July 2, 1989). "Scientology's best seller". New York Post. p. 39.
- ^ Maul, Kimberly (November 9, 2005). "Guinness World Records: L. Ron Hubbard Is the Most Translated Author". The Book Standard. Archived from the original on 2007-07-04. Retrieved 2006-12-03.
According to Nielsen BookScan, Dianetics has sold 52,000 units since BookScan began collecting data in 2001.
- ^ a b Williams, Marla (August 3, 1990). "Selling Good Will, Or Dianetics? -- Major Games Sponsor Outrages Some By Its Link To Scientology". Seattle Times. Retrieved 2009-01-01.
{{cite web}}
: Unknown parameter|coauthors=
ignored (|author=
suggested) (help) - ^ "Cruise's Religion Sponsors Race Car". The Augusta Chronicle. Georgia. June 8, 2006.
- ^ Behar, Richard (May 6, 1991). "Scientology: The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power". Time Magazine. Retrieved 2008-11-03.
- ^ Hubbard, "The Ridge on the Bridge," LRH ED 344R INT of March 10, 1982, revised October 21, 1982
- ^ "Scientologists' message goes up in hi-tech smoke," Sydney Morning Herald, May 4, 1996
- ^ Davis, Matt (August 7, 2008). "Selling Scientology: A Former Scientologist Marketing Guru Turns Against the Church". Portland Mercury. Retrieved 2008-10-31.
- ^ Lattin, Don (May 15, 2000). "Travolta's Religious Battlefield Critics say movie bolsters Scientology". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2008-11-21.
- ^ Novella, Steven (September 22, 2005). "Weird Scientology". New Haven Advocate.
- ^ Cross-examination of Warren McShane, Religious Technology Center vs Factnet et al., September 12, 1995 (Linked page is gone, archived version: [1])
- ^ Corydon, Bent (1987). [[L. Ron Hubbard: Messiah or Madman?]]. Lyle Stuart. p. 361. ISBN 0818404442.
{{cite book}}
: URL–wikilink conflict (help)
Further reading
- Corydon, Bent. L. Ron Hubbard: Madman or Messiah?. Lyle Stuart, Inc. (1987)
External links
- Official Dianetics website
- Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health (official page at Bridge Publications)